About Podcast Episode

Are you struggling to design and implement decentralized digital trust ecosystems that actually work?

In this episode of The SSI Orbit Podcast, host Mathieu Glaude sits down with Ecosystem Architect Antti Kettunen to unpack the challenges of adoption and value creation in decentralized systems. Antti shares his insights on moving beyond technology-focused conversations and instead building the right incentive models and business value propositions. He explains why simply selling decentralized identity as a technology solution is not enough—ecosystems need to be designed holistically with all stakeholders in mind.

Some of the valuable topics discussed include:

✨ Contrasting value chains in centralized vs decentralized ecosystems
✨ The importance of coordinated governance in decentralized systems
✨ Strategies for Mapping out ecosystem value propositions
✨ Frameworks for analyzing incentives across different participants

Whether you’re in the process of building a decentralized identity solution or embarking on a digital transformation journey for an existing ecosystem, this episode is a goldmine of practical insights. It offers essential guidance on how to create sustainable value for all parties involved. Tune in to gain actionable knowledge that will empower you to design decentralized ecosystems that drive adoption.

Key Insights:

Decentralized ecosystems have disconnected value chains between issuance and presentation of credentials, making it challenging to create value for all parties
Ecosystem design needs to consider business value chains and governance, not just technology
Payments and transactions can be enablers for ecosystem adoption, but cannot be easily disrupted
Public/open data layers may be needed to enable private transactions in an ecosystem
Understanding and balancing incentives across all ecosystem participants is crucial for success

Strategies:

Take a high-level view and start with those who get the most value/have the biggest problems in the ecosystem
Map out benefits for different participants and identify win-win opportunities
Design governance models and liability frameworks to enable trust between parties
Use tools like Ron Adner’s “The Wide Lens” to analyze ecosystem value propositions
Think as an “ecosystem architect” to understand business, technology and governance holistically

Chapters:

00:00 – Value chains for decentralized ecosystems
08:27 – Are Wallets the new platforms?
14:07 – Are Payments a key enabler for decentralized trust ecosystems
25:25 – Will our identifiers ultimately be controlled by Apple/Google and Government wallets?
31:27 – Frameworks to enable ecosystems for decentralized data exchanges
44:17 – The need for public data layer within ecosystems to build trust and enable trusted interactions
50:57 – Understanding ecosystem member incentives in order to increase success rate

Additional resources:

About Guests

Antti Kettunen is a Lead Consultant and Enterprise Architect at Tietoevry, specializing in digital identity and trust. He designs ecosystem solutions for organizations and governments, actively contributes to industry standards, and shares insights through his blog, Identifinity. As a co-founder of FindyNet cooperative, Finland’s digital identity network, Antti combines technical expertise with strategic vision to drive innovation in decentralized systems.
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